It’s National Gardening Week and since we’re all spending a lot more time in our gardens than we usually do, we’re digging out some tips from the Nature’s Home archive to make your gardens as wildlife friendly as possible...

The RSPB’s Adrian Thomas writes the garden feature each issue and he knows a thing or two about gardens (have a look at his own blog), but he also gathers fantastic tips…

Arguably the Christmas Carol 'It's the most wonderful time of the year' by Andy Williams wasn't the brain child of a wildlife enthusiast, as if it had been - it's highly likely that the song's lyrics would have been laden with delightful remarks about this time of year! As the natural world bursts into life with the arrival of tiny feet, feathers, plants and paws - we all stand at our windows, or stroll about our gardens…

"Ex·tir·pat·ed: to remove, eradicate or destroy completely" - this week's blog combines two submissions to the Nature's Home inbox, this delightful photo of an avocet sent in by Janice Clark, and perhaps something a little more unusual (although we would love to see more of them!) a poem entitled 'The Extirpated Avocet' sent in by Frances Walton...

Frances says: 'Waiting for…

Today is Bat Appreciation Day and to do just that, we’re experiencing them in our gardens and sharing a sneak preview of the latest Nature’s Home magazine with tips on how you can help bats at home or away...

How you can help bats: An exclusive Nature’s Home summer edition sneak preview

Magical and mysterious, bats are our companions on clement summer evenings. But they’re in need of help.  Nicola…

As the entire nation looks to their gardens or outside space for inspiration during lockdown, the Nature's Home inbox has become a cornucopia for garden wildlife sightings, nature tales and reports - it's wonderful to see so many of you finding solace and excitement in the comfort of your own homes, sending us photos and stories of wildlife you didn't even know was there until now! This week's blog features…

The summer issue of Nature’s Home will be with all our members soon. We hope you can use it to enjoy a bit of escapism into the wonderful world of seabirds, tiny insects, and whales and dolphins... by Head of Supporter Communications, Sara Downes.

We had to print the magazine just as coronavirus was reaching the UK, so some things have changed since then. We didn’t know what social isolation would look like for…

The joy of being in wild spaces, surrounded by creatures and plants has long been my way to recharge and slow down. Living in a city, this requires travelling to one of many green spaces within the city boundaries or taking a bus out to the wilderness beyond. Suddenly, we find ourselves in a world where these simple things are not available... by RSPB Project Manager, Bethan Jones.

At first it seemed that my connection…

"Who's this perched upon the branch, waiting for the perfect chance? With eager eyes, he scans the pool, one of nature's miracles. Splash and plop - in you go, no sufferer of vertigo. Back to the branch with his prize of fish, down in one - hmmm delish! With breast bright orange and feathers blue, he's the king of the fishers - that's who" (photo courtesy of Nature's Home reader, Angela Parkes…

I’ve had a few nature-related injuries in my life: limbs shredded by brambles while engrossed in following an insect; branches whipping into an eye as I ducked through trees scouring the woodland floor for fungi and some serious blisters from long hikes, but the after-effects of my 7-hour solid wildlife gardening digging and planting session ranks up there with the most painful encounters. As they say no pain, no gain…

Ah... the waxwing, is there a more beautiful winter visitor? Prompted by today's generous smattering of snow, and the discovery of this gorgeous photo sitting in the Nature’s Home inbox, this week's blog is all about these exotic looking visitors from the north and their endless quest for berries... (photo courtesy of Nature's Home reader, Fred Chapman).

To talk of the waxwing, first we need to understand…

Pinch! The odds don't look great for this little shore crab, suffice to say – I think we know how this story ends. But what of the bigger story? Well… you might be surprised to learn that in terms of 'species survival rates' the odds would be stacked in the crab’s favour, as curlew numbers have declined dramatically in the last few decades. Find out how you can help this iconic species (and how to…

Welcome to the second blog on what's been happening in my garden since RSPB gardening expert Adrian Thomas visited us last summer with a brief to provide us with a master plan to make it more wildlife-friendly. If you're an RSPB member, hopefully you have seen the feature in Nature's Home Spring 2020 (p80) that shows we have quite a lot of work to do! Last time, it was all about the bees and... well the be…

Do you enjoy words that evoke great conversation and bolster your birding vocabulary? If so, we think you'll like this one - 'leucistic'. Leucism is a condition that affects the pigmentation of certain cells due to the absence of melanin, resulting in a white or washed-out appearance of the feathers – an example of this condition is modelled perfectly by our little friend above. The question is… what species…

'Is it safe to come out yet?' isn't just the novelty phrase attributed to this week's Photo of the week, it appears to be the question on the lips, beaks, mandibles and in the case of a plants - photoreceptors of every living thing on the planet. Climate change is prompting us all to question our behaviours - much like the early flowering snowdrop - will we ‘emerge’ victorious? Only time will tell……

Welcome to the first of my updates on what's been happening in my garden since RSPB gardening expert Adrian Thomas paid a visit last summer, as featured in Nature's Home Spring 2020. Adrian knows his stuff and I was all too aware I hadn’t done as much as I should in the garden since we moved in, so committing to these "what has he done since?" blogs seemed like the perfect way to make sure we turned his advice…

This week's blog is all about making the most of wildlife visitations to your garden. Not only is participation in the Big Garden Birdwatch (BGBW) vital for collating data to see how wildlife numbers are faring - you can also use this time to take beautiful photographs of our most common (and treasured!) garden birds. For this reason, 'Photo of the week' simply has to go to Nature's Home reader, Paul Bennett…

If a coal tit could ever be accused of looking like a miniature carol singer, this little fella would be guilty as charged! Merry Christmas from all of us here at Nature's Home Magazine (photo courtesy of Nature's Home reader, Morgan Caygill). 

When carefully selecting a submission for our Photo of the week (Christmas special), we stumbled across this chirpy little fellow and knew straight away we had found a winner…

It may be Friday the 13th, but we think this 'tail' from Nature's Home reader, Roy Briggs will give you plenty to smile about  (photo courtesy of Roy Briggs).

Brown hares (Lepus europaeus) are renowned for their phenomenal powers of acceleration (up to 45mph), but will often sit tight to the ground when a predator approaches - luckily for Nature's Home reader, Roy Briggs - this bronzed beauty refrained from displaying…

This rather athletic Shag was photographed by one of our Nature's Home readers when visiting the Farne Islands earlier this year. (Photo courtesy of Peter Overton, West Midlands).

Peter says - "We witnessed this Shag behaving more like a Rockhopper penguin than a Shag."

We would have to agree with you Peter, fantastic photo, well done! Another feathered fellow the Shag often gets mistaken for is Phalacrocorax…

This pair of bearded tits were photographed at RSPB Rainham Marshes. (Photo courtesy of Nature's Home reader Steve Cullum.)

Sporting a fine moustache rather an a beard, bearded tit is rather a misnomer for this dumpy brown bird. The male has a lavender-grey head and black moustache year round, while the female is less conspicuous in a duller brown.

You'd be lucky to spot a bearded tit. Found in small colonies along…

Herons epitomise the idiom "eyes bigger than ones stomach" to me. I've seen so many photos of herons eating impossibly large things, weird things, and just plain wrong things. This fantastic shot, kindly sent in by Nature's Home reader Michael Harvey, is a great example. Look at the size of that fish! 

Herons also seem to fascinate our young members. Hardly surprising I suppose, given that they look a…

A rare glimpse of a beautiful stoat. (Photo courtesy of Nature's Home reader David Brooker.)

With its weasel-like creamy white throat and low-slung body, it's not always easy to ID a stoat in the field. The giveaway is the black-tipped tail, but you'll need keen eyes to see it as this voracious mustelid bounds through the grass in search of its latest quarry.

Read more:

• Learn how to tell a stoat from a …

A hitchhiking bush-cricket (Photo courtesy of Nature's Home reader John Bennett).

Our largest species of cricket, the great green bush-cricket can grow to up to 7cm long. It can be found across southern England and south Wales, in trees and grassland dotted with patches of scrub, where it feasts on a varied diet of vegetation and other insects. It is easily recognisable by its large size, long wings and impressive…

“Hiding in plain sight” (Photo courtesy of Nature's Home reader, David Horsley)

Synonymous with the red fox is a sneaky, stealthy demeanour. In childhood TV cartoons I have blurred memories of my sister watching a sleek silhouette skulk across jungle landscapes that were regularly patrolled by a somehow unsuspecting young explorer. Bafflingly oblivious to the threat no matter how many times she was robbed…

“Whoa, who peed in your cornflakes?" (Photo courtesy of Nature's Home reader, Bryn Ditheridge)

This beautiful little owl’s expression neatly summarises what lots of us are feeling at the moment when we flick to the news – very confused, irritable and quite frankly, extremely fed up. Safe in the comfort of a tree hollow, Bryn’s subject doesn’t look all that impressed to be caught on film peeking through…